World’s Oldest Person Passes Away Peacefully at Age 117

117 is an age not most of us will reach. Indeed, it’s longer than almost anyone in history.

American-Spanish woman Maria Branyas Morera passed away last week at this incredible age, peacefully, and without pain. Born in San Francisco on March 4, 1907, Morera lived in both the United States and Spain.

She served as a nurse during the Spanish Civil War, and married a traumatologist, who she had three children with. Morera served alongside him as nurse and assistant for many years.

Considered a supercentenarian, she lived through the 1918 flu pandemic and the COVID-19 pandemic. She became the oldest living person in the world in 2023, after the death of Lucile Randon of France.  In terms of oldest of all time, that record remains unbroken by Jeanne Calment, who lived to be 122, and died in 1997.

Morera remained in good health and sharp mind up until her death in Olot, Spain, on August 2024, at the age of 117 years and 168 days.

Japanese woman Tomiko Itooka has now taken the title of oldest person currently living.

This extreme long life is fascinating, and we’re happy to hear that she remained mentally strong until the very end.

Sensing her time was near, Branyas recently wrote:

“The time is near. Don’t cry, I don’t like tears. And above all, don’t suffer for me. Wherever I go, I will be happy,”

Branyas Morera passed on some truly great advice before she died, telling the Guinness World Records website she believed her longevity stemmed from “order, tranquility, good connection with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability, no worries, no regrets, lots of positivity and staying away from toxic people”. Amen to that.